Fox Mate (Madison Wolves) (19 page)

"Keep going," Ava said. "You're not done."

"Please, Ava."

She tweaked my nipple again. "Ouch!" But I didn't say anything more, and she tweaked me again, then when I was still quiet, both of them together.

"I'm not going to stop," she said. She tweaked them again.

"All right!" I said. "It really comes down to how she always has to be dominant, that I have to ask permission for everything. I love her strength, but I feel like a child when I have to ask her for something. And I really don't like that she threatens me with punishment when I can't give the same so
rt of punishments to her."

"We got enough," Angel said.

"Angel," I said. "Please don't play that back to her. She knows all of that, we've fought over it, but she doesn't deserve to hear it tonight."

"We'll hold it for now," Ava said. "But we are free to use it whenever we want."

"Please," I said.

"We'll hold it for now," Ava repeated.

I sighed. "Abigail."

"Dare."

"May I ask questions?"

"Of course," she said. "We don't promise answers."

"Who is the best here at piercing ears?"

"Probably me," said Sophia. "I have pierced more than anyone else."

"How many have you pierced, Sophia?"

"Counting yours, Michaela. One pair of ears."

I began to laugh.

"But my mother has done mine, so I knew how," she added.

"And are there more earrings if needed?"

"Yes," said Angel.

"Abigail, your dare is this: ask Sophia to chill your ears with ice until they are numb and then pierce them through the cartilage."

"Oh god," she said. She sighed. "No."

"Do mine then, Sophia," I said.

No one said anything. Sophia retrieved some ice and went about numbing my ears, one after another. When she pierced them, it hurt like crazy, and I could feel them bleeding profusely, but soon I was wearing a second pair of earrings. I was still in the game, and Abigail was the first casualty.

"You go again," Angel said. Then she leaned over to me and whispered into my ear. "Don't be mad about the recording. We're supposed to have fun."

I turned to her and said, "You have motivated me to play to win."

We went back and forth, whispering in each other's ear. "You're going to ask us to erase the recording?"

"No, I'm going to ask you to re-tape my arms
more comfortably."

Angel laughed.

"Ava," I said.

"Truth."

I gave her an easy one, but after that, the game heated up. Chloe asked for a dare from Angel, and Angel told her to eat two of the leeches they had stored in the refrigerator. Chloe refused, so Angel ate them. Ava dropped out when Scarlett asked her to describe Sophia's worst habit, and Scarlett was forced to describe Angel's worst habit.

"She sucks her thumb," Scarlett said immediately. "I don't know if that's her worst, but I think it's plenty embarrassing." Angel got some teasing.

I accepted a dare from Scarlett, which surprised her, and she had to think about something. She went for the kill. "Let us hold your mouth and nose closed until you pass out. If you struggle, you lose."

"Wow," said Angel. "Harsh."

I sat and thought quietly. I didn't know if I could avoid struggling. But then I wondered whether Scarlett wanted to win that badly.

"No," I said finally. "Who is going to hold Scarlett until she passes out?"

"I will," Angel said. "Lie across Michaela, face up, Scarlett."

She rotated sideways
and lay down, stretched out on her back across me. I could tell when Angel put her hand over Scarlett's mouth and nose. Scarlett lay quietly for a long time, but then she began to struggle, and Angel released her immediately.

Scarlett lay there gasping for a while then said, "Note to self. Never do a bigger dare then you're willing to accept. I'm out."

"Angel," I said.

"Truth."

"All right," I said. "I need to whisper this just to you." I leaned over and whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry. I need to win this. The night I was inducted into the pack, you told me why you had originally asked to be my assistant. Tell the rest of us, especially Scarlett."

Angel sat quietly, stiff. I hoped I hadn't gone too far. Then she chuckled. "No," she said firmly. "And you aren't going to do that, either. I'm out."

It was down to Sophia and me.

"Sophia," I said.

"Dare."

"Scarlett's dare to me," I said.

"You first," she said immediately.

"All right," I said. "Give me a moment." I took a couple of breaths, stilled myself, and then relaxed. Sophia moved behind me, and I nodded.

She immediately covered my mouth and nose, and her hand was more than big enough to do both. I thought about Lara. I thought calm thoughts. I willed away the panic. I thought calm thoughts about Lara.

And I didn't struggle.

By the time I woke up, they had removed the blindfold and rebound my arms, pinning them against my sides with my hands taped down flat to my thighs. I woke, confused at first about where I was, and was looking into several concerned faces.

"Do you know where you are?" Angel asked me.

I turned my head, focusing on her. "No," I said.

"Oh god," she said.

I realized she was worried about brain damage or memory loss. I thought about messing with them, but if they figured it out, I wasn't sure how they'd punish me.

I smiled. "I mean. You made sure I didn't know. You guys kidnapped me." I struggled briefly against the tape, but I was completely secured.

"You missed a ransom demand," Angel said, looking relieved. "Are you coherent, Michaela?"

"May I have some lemonade?"

They helped me sit up, then Scarlett moved behind me to support me, and Angel held the lemonade for me. I asked for and received a little more chicken, washed down with more lemonade.

I focused on Angel. "What was the demand?"

"Nine hundred thousand, two major favors each, and your throat. In perpetuity. We declined on your behalf. And then I asked Elisabeth to tell Lara why you weren't able to speak for yourself."

I pressed my lips together, not saying anything.

"Am I ransomed?"

"No. We didn't come down on our price. Honey, are you having fun?"

I looked at her. "Yes, oddly enough."

"Do you want to be ransomed yet?"

"No."

She smiled. "Good. We're going to be nice for a few more hours. It's not daylight yet. At daylight, we're ramping up. You understand."

I nodded.

"You missed a punishment," Ava said. "Your punishment is a pedicure."

"A pedicure?" I asked, smiling. "That doesn't seem so bad."

"This is the color we'll paint your nails," she said, setting a bottle of bright pink nail polish on the table. "And we'll coat them afterwards with a clear coating that doesn't dissolve under nail polish remover. You'll be stuck with that color until it grows out."

I laughed. "And the alternative?"

"I get to tweeze your eyebrows. I will do them the same as I would do my own."

I sighed. "I'm not really a pink nail polish kind of fox," I said. "I'm not a tweezer though, either."

"Choose," she said.

I laughed. "Eyebrows."

"Oh goody!" Chloe said. "Can I have the pedicure?"

"Yes," Abigail said. "I know you love pink."

So Abigail did Chloe's toes while Ava tweezed my brows.

They brought out a card game. I couldn't hold my cards, of course, but they moved me to a chair by myself and arranged my cards so I could see them. No one peeked, and pretty soon we were all laughing. It was a pretty raucous game.

Halfway through, Angel's phone buzzed. She glanced at it and said, "Ransom time. Michaela, your punishment is this. We're playing the recording to Lara."

"Oh Angel," I said. "Please don't."

"The alternative is this. You will allow us to wax you." She looked pointedly at my crotch. "We will need to free your legs to do it, and you will agree to behave entirely until we have finished and taped you back up. We will record you, and we will play the recording to Lara when it bests suits us."

"Will you delete the first recording and not use it again?"

They looked around at each other and nodded. "Yes," she said. "But if you struggle, we'll play it.
Otherwise we will delete it after we are all done, and only if you behave entirely."

"All right," I said. "I'll take the alternative.
Who here is going to tell their girlfriend what they don't like about her?" I looked pointedly between Scarlett and Angel, neither of them realizing the agreement was that if I took the alternative, someone had to take the first punishment.

The other girls began laughing.

Angel smiled. "If you expect that, then we're not obligated to erase the recording."

I sighed. "Outfoxed. This time."

Angel and Scarlett grinned.

Angel called Elisabeth while Ava readied the waxing
kit. Angel relayed her offer for my ransom: nine million and the two favors each. "She declines," Elisabeth said. "Please let me speak to the fox."

Angel held the phone in place.

"Hello, Elisabeth."

"She's wet with perspiration," Elisabeth said. "She didn't like what we just did to her."

"What is the price to free her, Elisabeth?"

"Your house in Bayfield, a half million dollars, five major favors, and your throat to each of us. In, of course, perpetuity."

I smiled. "Elisabeth, will you lower the price to something I can pay before you really start doing anything bad to her?"

"Of course,
Little Fox. She's my sister. Michaela, it is a sign of distrust in your partner if you ransom too soon."

"Thank you, Elisabeth. Is everyone there having fun?"

"Yes," she said, laughing. "And there?"

"So far. Did they really tell Lara why I couldn't speak for myself?"

"Yes. She is very proud of you."

"Thank you, Elisabeth. I can hardly wait until your wedding."

She laughed and hung up.

Angel set the phone aside and turned to me. "Are you going to struggle?"

"No."

She picked up the scissors, bent down, and freed my legs for me. Then I let them pick me up and set me on the coffee table. They held my legs apart, and Ava applied the wax over my nether regions.

"Ever had this done?" Ava asked.

"No."

"Once it's ready, I rip it off," she said. "I can go fast or slow. Fast is better."

"Fast," I said. "This is going to hurt?"

"Screaming is common amongst humans. Wolves sit through it silently. I can't guess about a fox."

"But we're hoping for lots of screaming and swearing," Scarlett added. "We won't punish you if you are particularly vocal, so feel free to really let the words fly."

"Michaela," said Angel. "If you direct any messages to Lara herself, we'll play the other recording."

"I get it. You want to freak her out."

"Yes. If you ruin this, we step it up."

I sighed. "I understand."

They talked quietly, and then Ava said she was ready. Angel picked up Scarlett's phone and began recording. "Ready."

I vowed to be stoic. Ava began pulling at the tape over my crotch, little jerks, each of them hurting. She was watching me, and I knew she wanted noise from me. I held my breath, making no more noise than loud breathing a few times, and then she held up a strip of tape with my red hair dangling from it. I relaxed my muscles. That hadn't been so bad
.

Ava reached down and yanked hard on a second piece of tape. I hadn't realized it was there. I yelled. There was a third strip, and I swore loudly for that one. And on the fourth strip, I screamed.

"Thank you, Michaela," Angel said, lowering the phone.

"Michaela," Ava said. "I have soothing oil I can apply, but it involves me touching you. If you want me to use it, the price is you never, ever tell Lara I touched you down here."

I laughed. "Oh, I promise."

The cream she used felt go
od.

"What is the price for a pair of panties?" I asked while my legs were free.

"Ten thousand dollars," Abigail said immediately.

"Guys," I said. "I am a school teacher. I'm not rich."

"We know how much money you got from the Chicago wolves," Angel said. "We know you haven't spent it. We won't take so much you can't ransom Lara."

I sighed. "Ten thousand," I agreed.

Angel wrote it down and Scarlett went upstairs, returning shortly with a pair of black panties. I recognized them from my own drawer. She looked down at me. "We have to un-tape your hands. You have to promise to cooperate while we re-tape you."